Oscar de la Renta Is Over Fashion Week ‘Megashows’

Designer Oscar de la Renta greets his audience after presenting the Oscar de la Renta 2012 Resort Collection show at a Private Studio on May 16, 2011 in New York City
Photo:
Thomas Concordia/Getty Images

Oscar de la Renta has decided that packing designers, randoms, editors, and personalities into an auditorium is over. So, for his spring-summer 2014 show on September 10, he's slashing his guest list to a maximum of 350 people, reports WWD. “I feel [inviting a more targeted audience] is the most manageable way and the most civilized way,” he said. “Why have 20 million people with zero connection to the clothes?"

De la Renta's distaste for "megashows" started last fall when he staged two 316-seat shows; this year, his guest list is limited to a tiny, curated audience of those with a "legitimate professional purpose" to see the clothes up close and in person. "It’s important for [certain industry professionals] to look at the clothes and see them. They shouldn’t have to go through 30,000 people, and 10,000 who are trying to take pictures of all of those people who are totally unrelated to the clothes," he said.

Now that there are ways to watch shows besides heading to the tents via live-streaming, it makes sense to keep the in-person attendees to a smaller, more intimate group of influencers. But hold up: If other designers follow suit, how boring will the front-row spectacle become?